The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | |
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![]() Original theatrical poster | |
Directed by | John Lounsbery Wolfgang Reitherman |
Story by | Larry Clemmons Ralph Wright Vance Gerry Xavier Atencio Ken Anderson Julius Svendsen Ted Berman Eric Cleworth |
Based on | Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne |
Produced by | Wolfgang Reitherman[n 1] |
Starring | Sterling Holloway John Fiedler Junius Matthews Paul Winchell Howard Morris Bruce Reitherman Jon Walmsley Timothy Turner |
Narrated by | Sebastian Cabot |
Edited by | Tom Acosta James Melton |
Music by | Richard M. Sherman Robert B. Sherman (songs) Buddy Baker (score) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
Release dates |
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Running time | 74 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a 1977 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It is the 22nd Disney animated feature film and was first released on a double bill with The Littlest Horse Thieves on March 11, 1977.
Its characters have spawned a franchise of various sequels and television programs, clothing, books, toys, and an attraction of the same name at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Hong Kong Disneyland in addition to Pooh's Hunny Hunt in Tokyo Disneyland.
Plot[]
The film's content is derived from three previously released animated featurettes Disney produced based upon the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974). Extra material was used to link the three featurettes together to allow the stories to merge into each other.
A fourth, shorter scene was added to bring the film to a close, originally made during production of Blustery Day (based on the presence of Jon Walmsley as Christopher Robin). The sequence was based on the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner, where Christopher Robin must leave the Hundred Acre Wood behind as he is starting school. In it, Christopher Robin and Pooh discuss what they liked doing together and the boy asks his bear to promise to remember him and to keep some of the memories of their time together alive. Pooh agrees to do so, and the film closes with The Narrator saying that wherever Christopher Robin goes, Pooh will always be waiting for him whenever he returns.
Later featurette[]
Six years after the release of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Disney commissioned a fourth featurette based on the stories. Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore premiered in theaters on March 11, 1983, but was not originally connected to the preceding films in any manner. It has since been added to home video releases of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Voice cast[]
- Winnie the Pooh, voiced by Sterling Holloway
- Christopher Robin, voiced by Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley and Timothy Turner
- Piglet, voiced by John Fiedler
- Eeyore, voiced by Ralph Wright
- Roo, voiced by Clint Howard and Dori Whitaker
- Kanga, voiced by Barbara Luddy
- Tigger, voiced by Paul Winchell
- Rabbit, voiced by Junius Matthews
- Owl, voiced by Hal Smith
- Gopher, voiced by Howard Morris
- Narrated by Sebastian Cabot
Production[]
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was the last film in the Disney canon in which Walt Disney had personal involvement, since one of the shorts (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree) was released during his lifetime and he was involved in the production of Blustery Day. It was always Walt Disney's intention to create a feature film, but he decided to make shorts instead — after production had begun — to familiarize U.S. audiences with the characters. All three shorts, as well as future feature films, boast classic songs by the Sherman Brothers including "Winnie the Pooh" and "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers".
The character Gopher, which does not appear in the Milne stories, was created because Disney wanted an all-American character that could appeal to the children, and also add an element of comedy.[1]
For the character Piglet, hand gestures and other movements were used by the animators to create expressiveness, since he (and Pooh) had the appearance of dolls or stuffed animals with relatively simple button eyes.[2] The scene where Rabbit deals with Pooh's rump being part of the "decor of his home" was not in the original book, but was reportedly contemplated by Disney when he first read the book.[3]
Release[]
Reception[]
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh holds a unanimous critic approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Perhaps the most faithful of Disney's literary adaptations, this cute, charming collection of episodes captures the spirit of A.A. Milne's classic stories."[4] Film critic Leonard Maltin called the original Pooh featurettes "gems"; he also noted that the artwork resembles the book illustrations, and that the particular length of these featurettes meant that the filmmakers didn't have to "compress or protract their script."[5]
Ruth Hill Viguers, however, when writing in A Critical History of Children’s Literature during the 1960s, mentioned Disney's Winnie the Pooh along with several other Disney adaptations as having "destroyed the integrity of the original books".[6]
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
- Nominated Animation Film[7]
Home media[]
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was first released on VHS, Betamax, CED videorecord, and laserdisc in the early 1980s. In 1996, it was re-released on VHS as part of the Masterpiece Collection and included video footage of the making which was shown before the movie starts (as did the first UK VHS release in 1997). It was released on DVD for the first time in 2002 as a 25th Anniversary Edition, with digitally restored picture and sound. The individual shorts had also been released on their own on VHS in the 1990s.
The 25th anniversary edition DVD includes, among other bonus features: "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Story Behind the Masterpiece", which documents the history of the books and their initial film adaptations; the short Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983); and interviews with animators Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Burny Mattinson, as well as the Sherman Brothers, Paul Winchell, and others. Digital Media FX reviewer Shannon Muir stated that the audio and video quality of the film on this DVD was very high.[8]
The "Friendship Edition" DVD was released on June 19, 2007. All of the special features from the previous "25th Anniversary Edition" DVD were recycled; the only new addition being an episode of Playhouse Disney's computer-animated series My Friends Tigger & Pooh. The DVD re-release coincides with the 30th anniversary of the release of the film.[9]
The Blu-ray version was released for the first time along with the third DVD release on August 27, 2013. The bonus features included a Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh segment, "Geniuses" and the only bonus feature that was kept from the previous DVD releases was the "Winnie the Pooh" theme song music video performed by Carly Simon.[10]
Songs[]
All tracks are written by The Sherman Brothers.
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Winnie the Pooh" | Disney Studio Chorus | |
2. | "Up, Down, Touch the Ground" | Sterling Holloway | |
3. | "Rumbly in My Tumbly" | Sterling Holloway | |
4. | "Little Black Rain Cloud" | Sterling Holloway & Bruce Reitherman | |
5. | "Mind Over Matter" | Disney Studio Chorus | |
6. | "A Rather Blustery Day" | Sterling Holloway | |
7. | "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" | Paul Winchell | |
8. | "Heffalumps and Woozles" | The Mellomen | |
9. | "The Rain, Rain, Rain, Came Down, Down, Down" | Disney Studio Chorus | |
10. | "Hip Hip Pooh-Ray!" | Disney Studio Chorus |
Sequel[]
Walt Disney Pictures released a stand-alone sequel, Winnie the Pooh, on April 15, 2011 in the United Kingdom, and on July 15, 2011 in the United States.
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh: The Story Behind The Masterpiece
- ↑ Thomas, Frank; Ollie Johnston (1981). Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. Abbeville Press. pp. 448. ISBN 0-89659-232-4.
- ↑ Davidson, Bill; Kathy Merlock Jackson (2006). Walt Disney: Conversations. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 128. ISBN 1-57806-712-X.
- ↑ "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)". rottentomatoes.com. Fandango. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New American Library. pp. 76. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
- ↑ Viguers, Ruth Hill (1969). Cornelia Meigs. ed. A Critical History of Children's Literature. Macmillan Publishing co.. pp. 412. ISBN 0-02-583900-4.
- ↑ "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ Muir, Shannon. "DVD Review of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - 25th Anniversary Edition". Digital Media FX. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "Upcoming Disney DVD Release Schedule - The Ultimate Guide to Disney DVD". www.ultimatedisney.com.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh". 27 August 2013 – via Amazon.
{{cite web}}
:
External links[]

- Official website
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at the Internet Movie Database
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at Box Office Mojo
Walt Disney Animation Studios | ||
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List of feature films | Released | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) • Pinocchio (1940) • Fantasia (1940) • Dumbo (1941) • Bambi (1942) • Saludos Amigos (1942) • The Three Caballeros (1944) • Make Mine Music (1946) • Fun and Fancy Free (1947) • Melody Time (1948) • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) • Cinderella (1950) • Alice in Wonderland (1951) • Peter Pan (1953) • Lady and the Tramp (1955) • Sleeping Beauty (1959) • One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) • The Sword in the Stone (1963) • The Jungle Book (1967) • The Aristocats (1970) • Robin Hood (1973) • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) • The Rescuers (1977) • The Fox and the Hound (1981) • The Black Cauldron (1985) • The Great Mouse Detective (1986) • Oliver & Company (1988) • The Little Mermaid (1989) • The Rescuers Down Under (1990) • Beauty and the Beast (1991) • Aladdin (1992) • The Lion King (1994) • Pocahontas (1995) • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) • Hercules (1997) • Mulan (1998) • Tarzan (1999) • Fantasia 2000 (1999) • Dinosaur (2000) • The Emperor's New Groove (2000) • Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) • Lilo & Stitch (2002) • Treasure Planet (2002) • Brother Bear (2003) • Home on the Range (2004) • Chicken Little (2005) • Meet the Robinsons (2007) • Bolt (2008) • The Princess and the Frog (2009) • Tangled (2010) • Winnie the Pooh (2011) • Wreck-It Ralph (2012) • Frozen (2013) • Big Hero 6 (2014) • Zootopia (2016) • Moana (2016) • Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) |
Upcoming films | Frozen 2 (2019) | |
Associated productions |
The Reluctant Dragon (1941) • Victory Through Air Power (1943) • Song of the South (1946) • So Dear to My Heart (1949) • Mary Poppins (1964) • Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) • Pete's Dragon (1977) • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) • Enchanted (2007) • Mary Poppins Returns (2018) | |
People | Executives | Edwin Catmull • Roy Conli • Roy E. Disney • Walt Disney • Don Hahn • Jeffrey Katzenberg • John Lasseter • Jennifer Lee • Peter Schneider • Thomas Schumacher • David Stainton |
Disney's Nine Old Men | Les Clark • Marc Davis • Ollie Johnston • Milt Kahl • Ward Kimball • Eric Larson • John Lounsbery • Wolfgang Reitherman • Frank Thomas | |
Related topics | History | Disney animators' strike • Disney Renaissance |
Methods and technologies |
12 basic principles of animation • Computer Animation Production System • Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life • Multiplane camera | |
Documentaries | Frank and Ollie (1995) • The Sweatbox (2001) • Dream On Silly Dreamer (2005) • Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009) | |
Other Disney animation units |
Disney Television Animation • Lucasfilm Animation • Marvel Animation • Pixar Animation Studios • Disneytoon Studios (defunct) • Circle 7 (defunct) | |
Miscellaneous | Alice Comedies • Laugh-O-Gram Studio • List of Disney animated shorts • List of Disney theatrical animated features (unproduced) • Oswald the Lucky Rabbit • Mickey Mouse (film series) • Silly Symphonies • Once Upon a Time • Kingdom Hearts III |
Template:Sherman Brothers
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne | ||||
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Books | Milne books | When We Were Very Young (1924) • Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) • Now We Are Six (1927) • The House at Pooh Corner (1928) | ||
Other authors | Winnie ille Pu (1958) • The Pooh Perplex (1963) • The Tao of Pooh (1982) • The Te of Piglet (1992) • Pooh and the Philosophers (1995) • Return to the Hundred Acre Wood (2009) • Finding Winnie (2015) • The Best Bear in All the World (2016) • Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen (2016) | |||
Characters | Winnie-the-Pooh (Disney version) • Tigger • Piglet • Eeyore • Christopher Robin • Rabbit • Roo • Heffalumps • Gopher | |||
People | Christopher Robin Milne • E. H. Shepard • Harry Colebourn • Shirley Slesinger Lasswell • Stephen Slesinger • David Benedictus • Mark Burgess | |||
Related | Hundred Acre Wood • Poohsticks • Eeyore's Birthday Party • Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic • Winnipeg the Bear • Censorship in China | |||
Disney franchise | Featurettes | Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) • Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) • Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) • Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983) | ||
Short films | Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons (1981) • Once Upon a Studio (2023) | |||
Theatrical films | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) • The Tigger Movie (2000) • Piglet's Big Movie (2003) • Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) • Winnie the Pooh (2011) • Christopher Robin (2018) | |||
Direct-to-video films | Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997) • Seasons of Giving (1999) • The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart (2001) • A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002) • Springtime with Roo (2004) • Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie (2005) • Super Sleuth Christmas Movie (2007) • Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009) | |||
Television series |
Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983–1984) • The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991) (episodes) • The Book of Pooh (2001–2003) • My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007–2010) (episodes) | |||
Television specials |
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990) • Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too (1991) • Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh (1996) • A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving (1998) • A Valentine for You (1999) | |||
Main video games | Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood (1986) • Disney's Animated Storybook • Ready to Read with Pooh (1997) • Disney Learning: Winnie the Pooh (1999) • Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood (2000) • Tigger's Honey Hunt (2000) • Party Time with Winnie the Pooh (2001) • Piglet's Big Game (2003) • Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure (2005) • Winnie the Pooh's Home Run Derby (2007) | |||
Related video games | Kingdom Hearts series (Kingdom Hearts (2002) • Chain of Memories (2004) • II (2005) • Birth by Sleep (2010) • III (2019)) • Disney Friends (2007) • Disney Magic Kingdoms (2018) • Disney Mirrorverse (2022) | |||
Music | "Winnie the Pooh" (1965) • Winnie the Pooh soundtrack (2011) • Christopher Robin soundtrack (2018) | |||
Attractions | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh • Pooh's Hunny Hunt | |||
Other | Comic strip • The New Musical Adaptation | |||
Other adaptations and media | Soyuzmultfilm featurettes | Winnie-the-Pooh (1969) • Winnie-the-Pooh Pays a Visit (1971) • Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day (1972) | ||
The Twisted Childhood Universe | Blood and Honey (2023) • Blood and Honey 2 (2024) | |||
Biographical films | A Bear Named Winnie (2004) • Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) | |||
Music | "House at Pooh Corner" (1970) • Return to Pooh Corner (1994) • More Songs from Pooh Corner (2000) | |||
Other | Bother! The Brain of Pooh • "Band in China" (2019) • "Winnie-the-Screwed" (2022) • Winnie's Hole (2023) |
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